French Beach is located on the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the west coast of southern Vancouver Island, French Beach is a wonderful and very accessible beach. The beach is a great beach, and you can drive almost right up on it. This is a pebble beach, and it’s got such views of the straight.
There are large grassy areas where you can play catch or throw the Frisbee that front right on the beach. There are picnic tables that have fire pits with benches that are built in a circle around the pits, perfect for roasting marshmallows. This is a premier picnic spot, one of the finest I have ever seen.
From the beach you get incredible views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains, the beach is over 1500 meters long, with plenty of places to sit and watch for gray whales as they pass by in the spring and the fall. Sometimes you can see pods of resident killer whales from the shore, you also have a good chance of seeing otters, sea lions, and sea lions. There is plenty of birdlife to keep all the bird watchers happy.
There is a great campsite here that is only a short distance from the beach, facilities include a day-use area, a sani-station, pit toilets, and water taps. After dark, you can go down and light a fire in one of the pits, roast marshmallows and watch the ocean in starlight or under a full moon. There is also a group campsite that is just phenomenal. There is an undercover cooking area with a wood stove, lots of picnic tables, and plenty of room for lots of tents along with room for campers and trailers.
There is a very pleasant trail that wanders down a series of stairs as it takes you down to the beach and another trail that will take you over to the day-use picnic area, both are short but enjoyable trails.